Chapter 1213: The Fleet Racing In

In the assessments coming out of Xuzhou, the Donghai Battalion was never considered a threat worth guarding against — they were even dismissed as shabby and contemptible. This time, when the imperial court dispatched a grand army to encircle and suppress Xuzhou, the Donghai Battalion, being so close to Xuzhou, was naturally included in the conscription order. But the Donghai Battalion, while asking the Second Brigade to send men to guard their own armory, also took the initiative to negotiate: could everyone, with a tacit mutual understanding, simply report a victory upward? Just say that the entire battalion, united as one, held Haizhou with resolve, thwarted the Xuzhou rebel army several times, and ultimately kept Haizhou from falling.

The Second Brigade couldn't even be bothered to respond to this tedious request. In the end, it was the Haizhou Salt Administration that wielded a masterful brush, simply stating that the rebel army had all gathered at Xuzhou, so Haizhou saw no action — but since Haizhou was vital to fiscal and tax policy, the government troops could not leave their posts without authorization. That was how they glossed it over.

In truth, the retainers of the Second Brigade and their associated personnel very much wanted a fight with the government troops. But their situation here was even more idle than Li Wu's Suzhou Regiment. No enemy would come from the sea, and on the other three sides, they were flanked by a Xuzhou brigade and large numbers of local militia. Moreover, with such overwhelming and crushing victories everywhere, their only action was redeploying to various posts and guarding the rear, watching their brothers come back from exhilarating, decisive triumphs. Anyone would feel envious and covetous, and also find their own posting utterly dull.

In the last days of the first month of the fourth year of Tianqi, the sea wind was bitter cold, yet a clear sun hung in the sky. The retainers returning from patrol at the port were discussing things listlessly.

"I heard the Second Master scored a huge victory over the enemy in Shandong. They say the Second Master fought at the front, and the Fifth Master led over a thousand men charging straight in from the east — what a thrill that must have been!"

"Master Jin's fight was the truly satisfying one. A manor built like a mud fort was blasted apart by over thirty cannons. Then more than ten thousand government troops inside and several thousand militia were all taken prisoner. I heard the manor lord came begging for mercy, bringing ten pairs of twin sisters, and Master Jin just waved his hand and said no..."

"The Sixth Master's side wasn't bad either! The army just marched straight into Yangzhou Prefecture to round up prisoners, and the government troops there obediently came over to be captured. Such prestige! And look at us!"

The moment this was brought up, every man wilted. Someone gazed out to sea and said sullenly, "When we first got here, we ate fish and shrimp, watched the sea and the ships, and thought we'd landed in a place of leisure. But it's truly stifling. This is militia work. Back when we earned merit and got promoted to retainer, we thought we'd get to fight more battles!"

"Don't look down on the militia. The militia under Master Jin and the Second Master both fought satisfying battles. Supervisor Zhong's younger brother tied down the government troops at Suzhou with just a few thousand militia. Master Jin sent word to every brigade commending them — have you all forgotten?"

Just as they were sighing and lamenting, they heard a bell ring out from one of the bell towers. It rang only once, and then they saw someone on the tower's lookout platform waving signal flags. The retainers, having been stationed here so long, could read the port's signals. They knew this meant ships were coming. Although sea traffic was constant even in the first month, it was generally sparse. Judging by the flag signals, what was coming was actually a fleet of more than ten large ships — a true rarity.

"Could it be the Yu family's ships coming?" someone muttered. At this time of year, they couldn't think of any other family's fleet that would come. The Yu family fleet would only be coming to transport away the Liaodong specialty goods stockpiled from the previous year.

According to the Haizhou Port regulations, whenever a fleet of six or more large ships entered the harbor, every artillery battery was to prepare to fire. All retainers within the port, whether on duty or not, were required to fall into formation and stand ready, awaiting orders and commands at any moment. The retainers who had just been chatting immediately lined up, formed ranks, and then jogged toward the fortifications.

These were all rules and regulations, and everyone followed them as a matter of routine, thinking nothing of it. What the retainers below could not imagine, however, was that the sentries in the two towers dared not slacken in the slightest at this moment. They were staring intently at the sea. The retainers standing watch there had been specially selected; their eyesight was all excellent, and some had even been directly promoted from the militia because of their outstanding vision.

"Hold that hammer ready. The moment I shout, you ring the alarm bell. Something's not right out at sea!" The retainer on lookout, ignoring the bone-piercing sea wind, tightened his leather robe and continued scanning the horizon. As he watched, he shouted down to the men below. The militia waiting there had already picked up the bell hammer, ready to sound the alarm at any moment.

"Where did so many Guangdong ships come from? It's only the start of the first month!" the retainer muttered as he watched.

Those dozen or so Guangdong ships were all large vessels of around six hundred liao. While not the largest, they were still presentable flagships for a maritime merchant fleet; in a smaller fleet, such a ship would be the flagship. Moreover, the retainer in the tower could see clearly: the sails of these dozen-plus large ships were all fully spread, and they were racing across the sea at high speed. To achieve such speed, the ships certainly couldn't be carrying much cargo, which made it even more suspicious.

If this were the Yu family fleet, those would mostly be flat-bottomed sand ships, and only their family's sand ships would ever enter port empty. Other fleets mostly came from Fujian, Guangdong, or even foreign seas. A single voyage cost a fortune and meant risking life and limb — how could they possibly come empty? Even loading up on low-value local specialties was a must; that would at least offset part of the expenses. They would unload here, then reload with goods for the return trip.

Furthermore, when ships reached the waters around Haizhou Port, they absolutely had to proceed as slowly as possible, because the sea outside Haizhou was dense with sandbars, making grounding or collision very easy. Naturally, no one wanted to take that risk. So this full-sail charge was truly abnormal. Could they be trying to rush in for a surprise attack?

As they watched the ships draw closer and closer, the lookout retainer bent down and picked up two red flags from beside him. The moment he waved those red flags, the bell would ring urgently, and the entire Haizhou Port would immediately go on full alert. Just then, he saw red-and-black striped banners being raised on all dozen-plus Guangdong ships. The lookout retainer's movements slowed. He narrowed his eyes to peer over, but instead of ordering the bell rung, he turned toward the artillery battery positions and began waving flag signals.

"Why is the Li family fleet coming at this time, and moving with such urgency?" the retainer muttered as he waved the red flags. Upon seeing this flag signal, the various artillery batteries would prepare to fire, but the alert level in the rest of the port would not be raised. This was a balanced response.

The recognition flag was one Haizhou Port had specifically assigned to the Li family, so there was no need for full alert. But the Li family fleet's behavior was highly irregular, so the cannons at the batteries needed to be ready. In truth, the retainer in the tower had great confidence in the artillery batteries. Many people thought the batteries could only hit a fixed distance and point, never imagining that the cannons of the Haizhou Port batteries could control virtually all sea surface within their firing range.

The racing Li family fleet finally slowed as it was about to enter the harbor. Even so, it sent other ships scrambling to dodge, and there were even collisions between gunwales. Seafarers are reckless souls who fear neither heaven nor earth. Some men began cursing loudly right from their ships, but upon seeing the state of the other vessels, none dared make another sound. The sailors and crew on these dozen-plus ships all looked thoroughly ferocious, some even bearing wounds. From a distance, these dozen-plus Guangdong ships looked presentable, but up close, one could see they were riddled with scars — clearly the marks of cannonballs received at close range.

Their hearts trembling, the onlookers hurriedly turned their rudders to give way, yet they harbored a certain eagerness to watch the excitement. They thought to themselves: this Haizhou Port is a porcupine. If you come here looking to cause trouble, you're courting death. Let's just see how you die.

The highly abnormal movements of these dozen-plus Guangdong ships had already drawn attention. Though the docks and berths of Haizhou Port were not on a full war footing, all necessary precautions had been initiated. Four six-pounder cannons were pushed out directly, along with special iron carts loaded with various implements. Cannonballs were already being heated on charcoal stoves, and men were stirring mud. When the time came, the red-hot cannonballs fired out would directly ignite the enemy decks.

The three company commanders currently on duty were all watching from the high ground of the port. Though on alert, they had not ordered an attack, because aside from the fleet's reckless entry and excessive speed, everything else was done by the book — including the display of the recognition flag. The Li and Yu families held privileges at this Haizhou Port; they could enter directly by raising their flags. All other seagoing vessels, however, had to first send a sampan over to report before being accepted into the harbor.

Since the Li family fleet was following the rules in every other respect, they would be treated according to the rules. They could also see someone standing at the bow of the ships, waving both arms. Aside from the busy crew, everyone on board was in a similar state; it was just that the distance was too great to make out what they were shouting.

The sails were lowered, and the ships slowly adjusted their positions to approach the berths. The shouts of the men on board could now be heard clearly: "There are many strangers on the ships! Some are wounded! Don't attack, don't attack!"

It seemed the men of this fleet also knew how formidable Haizhou Port's defenses were and feared a misunderstanding. Once the ships docked, before anyone on shore could board, the gangplanks were thrust down directly from the ships. This rapid action startled the Zhao Camp retainers on the dock, who immediately raised their firelocks. But then they saw a one-armed man come stumbling and rushing down. The Cloud Mountain Trading Company steward in charge of the port actually recognized this man — he was one of Old Li Hai's nephews and had been here a few times before. Back then, he had been an arrogant young man; now his face was utterly haggard, and his left forearm was gone, looking as if it had been sliced off by a blade and then seared with fire, a ghastly sight.

It is hard to keep one's balance with only one arm. The man fell flat onto the dock the moment he disembarked. The port steward froze for a second, then hurried forward to help him up. The one-armed man said in a hoarse voice, "Brother Yuan, our young master is on board. We're being pursued by enemies and had no other choice but to come and seek refuge. We beg the masters of Xuzhou to take us in!"

With that, he struggled to kowtow. Steward Yuan was stunned, then quickly recovered and said, "You are allies of Xuzhou. Of course you should be taken in. First, have everyone disembark and await arrangements. Those with wounds will have them treated; those without should also rest well. Have all your men discard their weapons and try no tricks, or else we'll all end up on bad terms."

The Li family fleet had earned quite a bit from the Zhao Camp, but in practice, they had also helped the Zhao Camp a great deal. The two sides were allies. Since an ally was being pursued by seafarers, the Zhao Camp naturally had the obligation to take them in and provide aid. Steward Yuan had the authority to make that decision.

Hearing Steward Yuan say this, the one-armed man, Li Simin, felt his whole body instinctively want to relax, but then he tensed up again and said through gritted teeth, "Xuzhou's great kindness, Brother Yuan's great kindness — the Li family will never forget this in all eternity!"

Thanks to "Yuan Heng Li Zhen, Duan Yichen, User Bai Mo" and several other old friends for the tips. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you, everyone.